The Student Voice Of Chowan

Poetry Contest Winners, Poets Inc.

Nature’s Love Letter

To Dark Skinned Girls

Samara Hardiman

Nature’s Love Letter

To Dark Skinned Girlsis this:

Dear Dark Skinned Girls,

You are beautiful.

Not that anyone wants

You to know this.

All your lifeyou have been called dark.Dark haired, dark skinned, dark eyed,the color of dirt, mud,the color of filth.Mislabeled again and againas simply darkWhen you areNone of those things.Your dark hair is the night skyA vast celestial canvasTangled with galaxiesOf strands of stardust Curled supernovasNew marvels unravelingIn a waterfall of thick rootsAnd glossy black sheen.Dark eyes are not unsightly.They are honey against copperand when they water,they shine brilliantlytwo perfect orbsset high on your face.Umber hues lit in a summer glowThat show the world that natureBlooms from youYour skinHolds all of life’s secretsInside of it.It is the earth come aliveSmooth soil with which you growOutwards and onwardsYour rib cage and collar bonesSimply wooded areasCovered in blossoms Guarding your heartProtecting with all their mightAn ecosystem of love and life.There had to be a time,before the worldBroke and molded you,that you thought

You were beautiful.Others would deny,with words that whisperSharp, shallow and softly spokenthat beauty is only

Black diamondsAnd brown sugarHowever, Nature made youFrom blood and soil,From stone and root,From stars and suns,From Earth and all her shadesThat cannot be explainedThrough science, numbers,And theory alone,But, with eyes that appreciateThe nature of you.

Stagnation

GermaNa Farrior

Honey, The color of my skin, the taste of nectar, and our love could be just as sweet.

But when I walk your way and you walk mine, you change direction and cross the street, you cross me.

Is it because my skin isn’t the same hue? Or maybe it’s because my address has a rent that’s past due?

My name never makes it past your lips; I remain stagnant in your mind.

My presence staggering when I’m not around, the sun rises as my head goes down.

My eyes close as yours open, I am as the moon shining in the onyx abyss.

Your light eyes hold the secrets of your world, and your sex has the power to change mine.

What did you have in mind, my wages to remain the minimum, because I shed my lining and bleed during the month?

Your power over me drives you closer, a moth to my internal flame. You’re poison until you change your frame.

You’re built in the way of thinking you and me could never be equal, unless my name contains no subliminal, no meaning, and no color, just picked from a book.

Perhaps if I were a Mary Jane you’d be lined, sunk and hooked.

I will not apologize for the different lives we lead, you’re my dying autumn and I am your summer breeze.

I Refuse to Be

Xavier Hall

I refuse to be another Naïve Individual Glorifying Greed and Encouraging Racism

Like if you watch a documentary about children in the world who struggle in poverty

Can somebody please explain to me why every single one of them look like me

Black people on screen looking poor for who, growing up thinking the only one who can be poor is you, and once you work that in your head what are you supposed to do–

These charities that go to other countries just to film the struggle never pay attention to the People that they hurting, catching children crying on camera so we feel bad enough to send a Couple bucks to them as if we don’t have problems ourselves,

Did you know that almost every country hides their poverty ridden parts so that their country seems more appealing?

Did you know that the charities that always put those black faces on television are ran by white faces who harbor most of the profits?

Ain’t that a problem, how can I trust that you trynna make change when you recording a crying, starving baby’s face asking others for change as if you couldn’t do a thing?

I refuse to be another Naïve Individual Glorifying Greed and Encouraging Racism, but “IN THE EYES OF AN ANGEL” can make somebody drop bands on children who represent the 1% of poverty.

They are not all black and this is fact, make a difference and make a media presence because it’s disappointing to see that always on TV it’s the black community broken in shambles out in the streets we protest, it’s called riots they can’t just walk by us our peace is disrupted ‘cause they do not trust us,

Pay attention to corruption; it’s not the easiest subject but we gotta build up our structure ‘cause if we keep messing up there will be an eruption the younger generations have shorter patience, they can’t let things go so they just build hatred

My biggest fear is they won’t make it so I gotta be a role model watch me cause I refuse to be another Naïve Individual Glorifying Greed and Encouraging Racism